Machine for mercerizing.



(No Model.)

Patented Dec. l8, I900.

A. KEBTESZ.

MAGHl-NE FOB MERCEBIZING.

(Application filed June 16, 1897.)

3 Sheets-Sheet l WI'TNEEEEEC INVE N'TDRI AT Y ' fuc nonms vzrzns w.moYo-Lww WASHINGTON a. c.

No. 664,275. I Patented Dec. I8, moo.

' A. KERTESZ.

MACHINE FUR msscamzmn.

(Application filed June 16, 1897.)

3 Shaets -Shaet 2.

(No Model.)

INVENTEIRI M ME No. 664,275. Patented Dec. l8, I900.

' A. KERTESZ.

MACHINE FOR MERCERIZING.

3 SheatsShe t 3.

INVEN'PUR Ken/13w} A'TTY (Application filed June 16, 1897.)

{No Model.)-

UNITED STATES PATENT @rrics.

ADOLF KERTESZ, or MAINKUR, GERMANY.

MACHINE FOR MERCERIZING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 664,27 5, datedDecember 18, 1900.

Application filed June 16,1897. serial No. 641,073. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ADOLF KERTESZ, a citizen of Germany, residing inMainkur, near Frankfort-on-the-Main, Germany, have invented a new anduseful Improvement in Stretching-Frames for Mordanting, Finishing, andDrying Textile Fabrics, of which the following, with the accompanyingdrawings, is a description.

The object of this invention is to provide a simple arrangement ofapparatus whereby textile fabrics can be mordanted or finished,stretched, mercerized, and dried by a continuous process without anyinterruption between the sizing or glossing or like process and thestretching and drying process, as heretofore, and whereby also a savingof labor is effected.

According to this invention the trough or vessel containing the sizingor glossing, mordanting, or like liquor is arranged close to thestretching or tentering frame, and the said trough or vessel, as Well asthe space between the squeezing-rollers and the stretching-frame, isprovided with rollers furnished with spikes, pins, frictional surfaces,or other equivalent mechanism or means adapted to engage the fabric andkeep it stretched while passing through and as it leaves the trough orvessel containing the glossing or like liquor and while feeding it tothe tentering or stretching frame.

Figure 1 of the accompanying drawings is a side sectional elevation ofmy invention for mordanting or finishing, stretching, and drying tektilefabrics; and Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. l, but provided with anadditional tank in which the mercerized fabrics can be washed in astretched condition. Fig. 3 gives a general view of the machine, showinghow the motive power is applied; and Fig. 4 is a detail on section-line4 4: of Fig. 3, and will be hereinafter more fully described.

Referring more especially to Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings, A is atrough or vessel containing the finishing fluid, mordant, or the likewith which the fabric B is to be treated, the said trough or vesselbeing provided in the interior with rollers a a, clothed or partiallyclothed with teeth or spikes similar to those of card-clothing orotherwise roughened to engage with the fabric as it passes through thetrough, the said fabric passing beneath and-in contact with the saidrollers, which are immersed in the fluid. The fabric after passing frombeneath the rollers a a passes between squeezing-rollers b b b", bywhich superfluous finishing fluid or the like is pressed out of thefabric, and the latter on leaving the rollers 19 b enters betweenanother pair of rollers c 0, having roughened surfaces or clothed withcard-teeth like the rollers a a. On leaving the rollers c c the fabricis directly engaged at its edges by the hooks or clips of a tentering orstretching frame (shown diagrammatically at O) by which the fabric isstretched, after which it is conducted by guide-rollers f to a beam orroller 6, on which it is wound. The fabric is dried in its passagethrough the stretching-frame and on its wayto the beam or roller c.

When the apparatus is used for mercerizing and stretching fabrics, atrough G, containing water or diluted acid, is provided beneath thetentering or stretching frame, as shown in Fig. 2, through which thefabric is caused to travel while still maintained in its stretch edcondition by the tenteringmachine, so that the fabric while stillstretched is rinsed and cleansed from any lye it may contain before itpasses to the winding beam or roller 6. The roller 1), between which andthe roller b the fabric passes after leaving the trough A, may bemounted in sliding bearings which are connected by a cord or chain 11 toa counterweight b which will prevent the roller 1) from pressing tooforcibly upon the fabric,

and thus preserve the fabric from damage while being stretched.

Poweris supplied to the apparatus,as shown in Fig. 3, by means of thepulleys Z and their belts, one to the pulley Y and the other to thepulley T. The pulley Y by a train of gears drives the gears X, X, and X,attached to the squeezingrollers 19, b", and b, and by means of thepulleys W and V and the belt between them drives the mechanism forwinding the cloth after it has passed through the machine. The pulley Tdrivesatrain of gears between it and the sprocket S, which latter givesmotion to the conveying-chains of the tenter-frame. Fig. 4 is atransverse section showing the cloth B stretched between the hooks, ashere shown, of the tenter-chains on either side and the construction toretain the chains in position.

The more special use of my improved machine is in the process known asmercerizing, where it is of great importance to keep the fabricstretched to its full width owing to the rapidity with which itotherwise shrinks under the influence of the chemicals used; but, asintimated above, the machine is also advantageous in other processes oftreating fabrics. To accomplish the purposes of the invention, theseveral portions of the machine are brought close together, so as toleave as little space as possible for the fabric to travel through inpassing from one toanother. Thus the rollers a a in the trough A arearranged in close proximity one to another; but their exact relativepositions are not of controlling importance, but may be much varied. Inlike manner the trough A, with its rollers, as a whole is located closeto the squeeze-rollers b b I)", and they in turn are brought as near thetenter-frame as possible, with the small rollers c 0 preferablyinterposed between them.

The fine spike-points covering the rollers, either in whole or onlyinpart upon the ends of each, as preferred, or equivalent surfaces,prevent the cloth from shrinking in width while it is passing over therollers, and the close proximity of one roller to another in a seriesfrom the time the cloth enters the trough until it is taken upon thetenter-frame also gives the chemicals as small an opportunity aspossible to act upon the cloth when not held by the roller-surfaces. Ihave found that with the arrangement described I am en abled to subjectthe cloth to even the mercerizing process and its great tendency toshrink the goods with comparatively small loss in width by shrinkagebefore it enters the tenter-frame and to regain all or nearly all ofthis loss before it leaves the tenter. In this series of rollers otherrollers without the spike-points or equivalent surfaces may be insertedfor special purposesas, for instance, the. squeezing-rollers hereshownand plain rolls may also at times and in some processes probably beused in a part of the series without seriously affecting the beneficialresults of the arrangement.

A convenient and effective way of applying the spiked points to therollers is by bronze collars fitting onto the ends of the rollers, whichare made smaller in order to receive them, these collars being furnishedwith short sharp points of the same metal. In this way the rollers arefurnished with the points where the edges of the cloth to be treated runover them, which is sufficient to prevent its shrinkage while passingover the rollers.

The rollers covered or provided with teeth or points similar tocard-clothing may be replaced in many cases by rollers acting byadhesion or frictional contact, the material employed in theirconstruction being, for

instance, India-rubber or some suitable metal casing, capable of actingon the fabric much in the same way as the spiked rollers. The number ofthese rollers may also be varied as occasion requires.

\Vhen this apparatus is employed for mercerizing, the fabric is carriedby the tentering or stretching device into and through a tank G, Fig. 2,containing water or diluted acid to remove from the fabric whilestretched the lye contained therein.

The mordanting or finishing, stretching, and drying operation effectedby this improved apparatus requires the attendance of only one person,whose duty it is to feed the fabric at the commencement into the troughor vessel containing the mordanting or finishing substance, from whenceit passes directly onto the tentering or stretching frame, in which itis stretched, so that the fabric cannot of itself become displaced.

In subjecting fabrics to the mercerizing and stretching operation bymeans of this device the whole process can be carried outin a continuousmanner, the fabric being passed through the trough containing soda lye,stretched, and rinsed in one continuous operation.

I claim as my invention- 1. In a machine for mercerizing cloth, thecombination of a tenter-frame and its conveying-chains, a trough forcontaining liquid for the treatment of cloth placed in front of thetenter and through which trough the cloth to be treated passes beforeentering the tenter, and a continuous series of rollers in closeproximity one to another between the point where the cloth enters thetrough and where it is taken upon the tenter-frame, around which rollersthe cloth passes on its way through the trough and from which it passesdirectly to the tenter, most atleast of the rollers of said series beingprovided with fine spike-points whereby the cloth is treated and driedin one continuous operation.

2. In a machine for mercerizing cloth the combination of a tenter-frameand its conveying-chains, a trough for containing liquid for treatingthe cloth, rollersaround which the cloth is intended to pass arranged to1'0- tate in the trough below the surface of the liquid and providedwith fine spikepoints, pressingrollers between which the cloth passesafter leaving the liquid, and rollers provided with fine spike-pointswhich receive the cloth from the pressing-rollers and dcliver itdirectly to the tenter-chains,whereby the [Fabric is treated and driedin one continuous operation.

In a machine for mcrcerizing cloth the combination of a tenter-frame andits conveying-chains, a trough for containing liquid for treating thecloth, rollers around which the cloth is intended to pass arranged torotate in the trough below the surface of the liquid and provided withfine spike-points, pressing rollers between which the cloth passes afterleaving, the liquid, rollers promyinvention I-have signed my name, inpresvided with fine spike-points which receive ence of twowitnesses,this 10th day of March, 10 the cloth from the pressing-rollersand deliver 1897. it directly to the tenter-chains, and a second 5trough to contain Water or dilute acid through which the neuter-chainspass so that the cloth Witnesses: is finally washed while stillstretched. PAUL A. HEIGIS,

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as JEAN GRUND.

ADOLF KERTESZ.

